WORLD NEWS
PARENTS ANGRY AS CORFU REPS CLEARED
Christianne and Bobby Shepherd, who died from carbon monoxide poisoning in their holiday bungalow in
The parents of a brother and sister who died from carbon monoxide poisoning have said they are "beyond disappointment" after a Greek court cleared their tour company of any wrongdoing.
Neil Shepherd and Sharon Wood said their faith in the company had been "misplaced and abused".
Christianne Shepherd, seven, and her six-year-old brother Robert, from Wakefield, West Yorkshire, died after a faulty boiler leaked gas into their bungalow in Corfu in October 2006.
The children were on a half-term holiday with their father and his partner, Ruth Beatson, who were both left in a coma as a result of the accident but survived.
Thomas Cook employees Richard Carson, 28, and Nicola Gibson, 26, were charged alongside nine Greeks with manslaughter by negligence in relation to the children and causing bodily injury by negligence to Mr Shepherd and Ms Beatson.
After a lengthy court case, which started in February, three judges at Corfu Town courthouse found Mr Carson, a customer affairs executive, and Ms Gibson, a holiday representative, not guilty.
The court heard that carbon monoxide fumes at the Louis Corcyra Beach Hotel in Gouvia leaked into the bungalow from an outhouse next door.
President of the judging panel Panagiotis Molyvdas said the tour company staff were misinformed by the hotel manager that there was no gas being used in the bungalows and they were not responsible for "bringing about the lethal outcome".
The judge pinned the blame on hotel manager Georgios Chrysikopoulos, head of the hotel technical department Petros Stoyiannos and hotel electrician Christos Louvros, who were each sentenced to seven years in jail.
Standing on the steps of the courthouse, Mr Shepherd struggled to contain his emotion as he urged the hotel owners to "carry out their promise of demolishing the bungalow and replacing it with a suitable memorial to our beloved children".
